April 19, 2017 Wetumpka Herald by Tallapoosa Publishers

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OPINION, PAGE A4

THE WETUMPKA HERALD Elmore County’s Oldest Newspaper - Established 1898

Wetumpka, AL 36092

50¢

WEDNESDAY • APRIL 19, 2017

Council approves utility relocation

THEWETUMPKAHERALD.COM

By DAVID GRANGER Managing Editor

Despite public comments from representatives of AT&T and Alabama Power Co. that intimated an attorney general’s opinion wouldn’t prevent the city’s payment for the effort, the Wetumpka City Council on Monday night unanimously approved an ordinance that

would direct the relocation of overhead utilities underground on certain streets in the city’s central business district. The city had sought and received an attorney general’s opinion on who would be responsible for the expense of the relocation. On March 24, Attorney General Steven Marshall’s opinion stated “a municipality may require

VOL. 119, NO. 16

a public utility company to relocate its aboveground utility lines and reinstall them in underground conduits or elsewhere.” However, the opinion went on to say that, while a public utility not regulated by the Alabama Public Service Commission “must” pay for such relocation, “the extent of such payment

See COUNCIL • Page A3

David Granger / The Herald

Reginald King, a ninth-grade teacher at Lee High School in Montgomery and a Wetumpka resident, receives from Mayor Jerry Willis the Pride Award for the role he played in saving a student’s life.

French and Indian Encampment set this weekend

Annual Lake Jordan cleanup set for Saturday

By DAVID GRANGER Managing Editor

By COREY ARWOOD Staff Writer

Wetumpka’s Fort Toulouse-Fort Jackson Park will offer a glimpse into mid18th century life and warfare this weekend when it hosts the French & Indian War Encampment, focusing attention on the main protagonists of French & Indian War (also known as the Seven Years War) – France, Britain and their American Indian allies. The event is sponsored by the Alabama Historical Commission and the Friends of the Forts and takes place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday. Admission is $4 for adults and $2 for children ages 6-18. “What we’re going to be showing is a snapshot of 18th-century life and this is just a little bit before the American See REENACTMENT • Page A3

On Saturday morning beginning at 8 a.m., volunteers will take to the lake to take from the lake an anticipated tons of garbage accumulated over the years from storms, dumping or litter in a decades-old event designed by residents to keep water and properties clean. The chairwoman of Lake Jordan Home Owners and Boat Owners Inc., more locally known as HOBO, said she expects a large haul this year from reports she has heard from lake-goers. Barbara Dryer said the record from one event was six tons, while the least they have ever gathered from the lake was three tons of garbage. “It’s going to be a lot of trash out there,” said Dreyer. “People calling in saying, ‘Boy, we’re going to have our work cut out for (us).’” She said the group organized in 1991 and she has been involved since its beginning. “Our first activity was a cleanup,” See CLEANUP • Page A2

Today’s

Weather

David Granger / The Herald

Bella Bertarelli, Frank Bertarelli and Jackie Monk examine some of the flowers in the shade house at Bertarelli’s new Wallsboro business, The Green House, which will eventually feature the plant farm, a farmer’s market and a restaurant.

The Green House is a growing enterprise Bertarelli’s. So what’s it called? The Green House. As an entrepreneur, when Frank Bertarelli “We wanted something that said what it decides to put out a shingle for a business, he is and that was memorable,” said Bertarelli. prefers a straightforward, to-the-point name. “What’s a better name?” His primary business – a pest control The Green House has been open for a few enterprise – is called Zap, descriptive of what weeks now. It’s owned by Bertarelli, but he does to the bugs he targets. operated by veteran plant persons Joe and Now, Bertarelli has ventured into the world Jackie Monk, who have 15 years each at the of plants. Passers-by may have noticed Montgomery Garden Center on U.S. 231 and the greenhouse that sits off Kildee Drive See GREEN HOUSE • Page A2 not far from U.S. 231 in Wallsboro. That’s By DAVID GRANGER Managing Editor

Local Boy Scout project to renovate overlooked park

86 61 High

By COREY ARWOOD Staff Writer

Low

THURSDAY: HIGH 88 LOW 62

USPS 681-260

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Kendall Buelman uses a sledgehammer to demolish a rotting gazebo at Kelly Fitzpatrick Memorial Roadside Park along U.S. 231.

Just off the highway traveling into Wetumpka, many might have noticed piles of debris gathered alongside a small roadside park that houses two gazebos and picnic benches, aptly named the John Kelly Fitzpatrick Roadside Park. A few weeks ago, the structures were torn down by a Wetumpka High School freshman and his father. No authorities were called and no charges filed because it was part a scheduled demolition and phase one of Kendall Buelman’s Eagle Scout project with Wetumpka Troop 50. “The one’s that were there were in really bad shape,” said

Troop leader Gardner Perdue. “They had rotted really badly.” He said they began work on a Friday and by the end of the day the two gazebos and tables were in pieces along the side of US Highway 231. The work was done by Kendall and his father, Air National Guard Senior Master Sgt. Jeff Buelman of the 187th Fighter Wing at Dannelley Field. Since Eagle Scout is the highest Boy Scout ranking, the elder Buelman said he wanted the project to be challenging. “It’s not some easy project where he can get his Eagle Scout and check off a block,” said Jeff Buelman. He said they were building

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See SCOUT • Page A2

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